To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 28

Di was the one who drove our small, black ship onto the moon's surface but Derek stayed behind the wheel just in case something went wrong again. Both he and Ace knew how to pilot ships but rarely got the chance since they were stuck behind computers all day.

The blank and grey moon that orbited earth looked nothing like this moon. This one was the color of black death and its surface consisted of jagged, solid rocks and crevices, forming mountains, caves, and tunnels that ran around its insides like a series of subways.

It had taken years for Hikarius to actually reach the moon's core, which was where the aliens had been sleeping before John's accidentally woke them up. Every ounce of their technology had been locked away in there and he'd been so desperate to get at it that he'd broken in without adequate preparation, which was his and the rest of Hikarius' employees' downfall.

I was the only one feeling apprehensive about this because the three mercenaries took everything in stride and Ace and Derek had already been down here before. They were readying their weapons as though they were about to go out on patrol, not to fight pale, eyeless creatures of unknown origin.

"Follow the purple lights," Derek told us as he stepped off the ship onto the mist covered ground, a Hikarius machine gun balanced in his hands. The bullets of light it fired were violet in color and could melt the face off a human. "And keep an eye out for the aliens. This is their territory so they could be hiding anywhere."

"And make sure not to damage any of their technology," John's voice rang over our earpieces, making every one of us cringe and press the mute button. "If you—"

"All right. Let's get in, destroy their nest, and get out," Jala stated as she followed Derek, shooting us glares before taking a look at her surroundings. "I don't want to be down here any longer than necessary."

I slammed my fists together to psych myself up, which Zora shot me a weird look for, before strapping on my oxygen helmet and leaping off the end of the ship at the same time Maddox did. My knees buckled a little when I landed but other than that I was okay. I still didn't have a weapon in hand but figured there were enough rocks around here to serve as weapons.

Just like Derek had said, there was a continuous row of magenta lights leading us through the maze of towering stone. They'd been planted there by the engineers who had either escaped or been eaten earlier.

Things felt eerily quiet as we passed through the layers of stone, which I knew were actually tombs of the previous alien generations because of the comics, and I felt a shiver run down my spine as we proceeded. The farther down we went, the colder it started to feel. Soon it was so frigid that I could feel the cold covering my skin like moisture. It was uncomfortable.

"I like this place," Zora characteristically commented as she spun around, taking a look at the environment. "Feels like a superhero cave."

Hearing that made me wonder if they had a comic book hero similar to batman in Manica. Hmm. If I'd cared about him instead of Dark, could I have teleported to his world instead? I guess I'd never know.

The more time we spent walking without an attack of any kind the more nervous I became.

"We're almost there," Derek whispered as the tunnel walls started glowing. "Their home is hidden in the deepest tunnels and they're even more hostile down there. I think it's where they hide their children."

My heart started to shrink at the thought of killing babies but I knew it would be self-defense of a sort and therefore couldn't be helped. As I stayed at my husband's side, my hands started to twitch out of anticipation for a battle.

At first, the walls locking us in were flat and colorless, something that likely would have driven a claustrophobic person insane. But as we continued toward the light I started to get the sense that the walls were watching us, shifting slightly and wishing that we'd leave.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maddox raise his weapon and shoot at one of the walls, an action I thought was odd until I saw a black skinned alien fall away from it, Maddox's bullet lodged in his abdomen.

As soon as they realized what had happened, the aliens attacked, launching themselves off their hiding spots on the walls and trying to tear at our flesh. Their white eyes stood out from their now sickly, black skin and it made them appear even more frightening than the albino ones had looked. Could they camouflage themselves in any color?

Panicking, I used my telekinesis on one of the aliens and flung it against another, my eyes going wide as the wild creatures surrounded us, hissing and clicking their tongues before trying to tear off our limbs. Derek had been right. These ones were far more territorial. Perhaps they were the 'Mother' aliens who cared for the young. Mother bears were said to be more defensive when their children were around, after all.

Maddox dug his sword through one of the alien's sides, lodging it in its flesh before ripping it out and driving it into another. Jala kicked one out of the way before stabbing it in the chest, her mouth pursed in concentration.

Once it was clear that we were outnumbered, Zora pulled out the large machine gun she'd had strapped to her back and spewed a stream of bullets into the horde, lowering the playing field and giving us an opening. As soon as Derek noticed the tunnel emptying, he grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the glow.

"We won't have much time before reinforcements come," he told everyone as we ran. "Let's hurry." He glanced at Ace to make sure he still had the explosives strapped to his arms, which they planned to use on the alien nests, before continuing.

The mercs took care of any stragglers as Derek, Ace, and I entered the aliens' "control room".

The room we entered was maybe the size of my bedroom times three. Small pods were lining the walls and I'm guessing they were full of incomplete alien children or eggs of some kind. The emerald glow we'd been seeing in the tunnels was coming from the biggest pod situated at the back of the room. Unlike the others, this one was clear, allowing us to peer inside.

Resting in the middle of the pod, with her eyes closed and arms crossed like a corpse, rested a white skinned alien. Her skin glowed green and her hair was swirling around the top of the pod, weaving back and forth like ripples in a pond.

"It's the mother," I found myself whispering.

She looked so peaceful...and we were going to kill her.